Tech Data CIO Takes on Cloud Business

**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in June.**

Distributor Tech Data on Monday named its chief information officer, John “JT” Tonnison, to lead its worldwide cloud business.

Tonnison will be responsible for the strategic direction, operations and go-to-market execution of Tech Data’s cloud. He’ll keep his role as executive vice president and CIO, a job he’s held since 2009.

“As we continue to invest in supporting our customers on their journey to hybrid computing, we recognized the need for dedicated global leadership of this strategic focus area for our company,” said Robert Dutkowsky, Tech Data CEO. “JT has played an integral role in setting our global strategy and leads a high-performing, multicultural, international organization that has a tremendous depth of experience as practitioners of cloud and hybrid solutions, integration, and migration. His outstanding business mind and understanding of the IT channel, combined with his understanding of technology and its real-world applications, make him an ideal leader to drive growth in cloud offerings for Tech Data and our channel partners.”

Tonnison is a 14-year veteran of the company. He started as vice president, Worldwide E-Business, in 2001, leading Tech Data’s E-Business strategy and tools. He was promoted to senior vice president, IT Americas in 2006 before getting the CIO role in ’09. Prior to joining Tech Data, he held executive management positions in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany with TSN, Ameriquest, Log 2000, Frontline Distribution and Mancos Computers.

At its Channel Link event last month in Dallas, Tech Data announced that TDCloud, its end-to-end provisioning, billing and marketing engine, is now available to partners in Canada, France and the U.K., introduced in phases in Europe this summer. It previously was only available to U.S. partners.

TDCloud is a dedicated business within the company that provides education, enablement and assistance with transitioning to cloud-and subscription-based models. Through the Tech Data Cloud Solutions Store, services are available to manage multiple revenue models and billing cycles, including prepaid subscriptions, licensing and renewals, and consumption-based usage. Tech Data recently added full support for Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program through the store, making it easier for providers to offer, provision, manage and support Microsoft cloud products and services, such as Office 365 and Azure.

Stacy Nethercoat, VP, product marketing, TDCloud, told Channel Partners at the event that 30 percent of Tech Data’s partners sell at least one cloud service today, compared to just 5 percent back in 2012.

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